{"id":135476,"date":"2025-04-21T07:31:46","date_gmt":"2025-04-21T11:31:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/?p=135476"},"modified":"2025-04-21T07:32:07","modified_gmt":"2025-04-21T11:32:07","slug":"nba-announces-the-2024-25-finalists-for-every-major-award","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2025\/04\/21\/nba-announces-the-2024-25-finalists-for-every-major-award\/","title":{"rendered":"NBA Announces The 2024-25 Finalists For Every Major Award"},"content":{"rendered":"

The NBA officially revealed<\/a> the top three finalists for all seven major individual awards for the 2024-25 season. The announcement came Sunday night and included some familiar names as well as breakout stars. Here’s a breakdown of the key storylines heading into the league’s awards season.<\/p>\n

NBA Announces The 2024-25 Finalists For Every Major Award Category<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Most Valuable Player<\/h3>\n

Nikola Joki\u0107<\/a> and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander<\/a> headline this year\u2019s MVP race. Jokic seeks his fourth MVP in five years. Only LeBron James<\/a> and Bill Russell<\/a> have achieved that milestone. Jokic averaged 29.6 points, 12.7 rebounds, and 10.2 assists this season. He joined Oscar Robertson<\/a> and Russell Westbrook<\/a> as the only players to average a triple-double across a season.<\/p>\n

Shai presents a strong challenge. He led the NBA in scoring with 32.7 points per game and pushed the Thunder to a league-best 68 wins. That total is the highest since the Warriors\u2019 73-win season in 2016. He had the most 50-point, 40-point and 30-point games in the NBA. He had the longest streak of 20-plus point games. Gilgeous-Alexander also topped<\/a> ESPN\u2019s MVP straw poll twice late in the year.<\/p>\n

Giannis Antetokounmpo<\/a> rounded out the top three. He narrowly edged Jayson Tatum<\/a> for the final finalist spot. Giannis made a strong April push, averaging a triple-double during that stretch. His late-season surge likely influenced voters.<\/p>\n

Defensive Player of the Year<\/h3>\n

Victor Wembanyama<\/a> seemed destined to win Defensive Player of the Year. However, his season-ending<\/a> diagnosis of deep vein thrombosis removed him from contention. That opened the door for other defenders to shine.<\/p>\n

Draymond Green<\/a> has emerged as the favorite. He recorded at least one steal and one block per game for the seventh time in his career. Green helped Golden State climb back into playoff contention following the addition of Jimmy Butler.<\/a> He also earned Western Conference Defensive Player of the Month in March.<\/p>\n

Dyson Daniels<\/a> impressed with a league-leading 3.0 steals per game. His defensive anticipation turned him into a nightly disruptor. Daniels earned Eastern Conference Defensive Player of the Month and ranks 12th all-time in single-season steals.<\/p>\n

Evan Mobley<\/a> also made his case. He anchored Cleveland\u2019s eighth-ranked defense and won two monthly defensive awards. If either Daniels or Mobley wins, it would mark their first time as Defensive Player of the Year.<\/p>\n

Rookie of the Year<\/h3>\n

The 2024-25 rookie class produced no runaway star, but three strong candidates emerged. In our collective hearts, this award belongs to Jared McCain<\/a> due to his hot start. However a season-ending torn meniscus<\/a> derailed his stellar campaign. Spurs guard Stephon Castle<\/a> leads the group. He averaged 14.7 points and 4.1 assists, helping San Antonio stay competitive. If Castle wins, the Spurs will have back-to-back Rookie of the Year winners.<\/p>\n

Zaccharie Risacher<\/a> overcame early struggles to close the season strong. He shot over 39%<\/a> from deep in February, March, and April. He averaged 12.6 points per game and emerged as a floor spacer for Atlanta.<\/p>\n

Jaylen Wells<\/a> stood out in Memphis. A second-round pick, he started most of the season before breaking<\/a> his wrist. The Grizzlies\u2019 defense fell apart during his absence. They dropped from 11th<\/a> to 21st<\/a> in defensive rating in just three games.<\/p>\n

Sixth Man of the Year<\/h3>\n

Payton Pritchard<\/a> stepped up for Boston, averaging 14.3 points while shooting over 40% from deep. He delivered big when the Celtics rested stars and even scored 43 off the bench in one game.<\/p>\n

Malik Beasley<\/a> also earned a nod. He averaged 16.4 points and made 319<\/a> three-pointers while shooting 41.6% from beyond the arc. Beasley ranked second in total threes and helped Detroit stay competitive.<\/p>\n

Ty Jerome<\/a> completed the trio. He returned from injury to average 12.5 points per game. Jerome shot 51.6% overall and nearly 44% from three. His efficient scoring made him one of the league\u2019s most impactful reserves.<\/p>\n

Coach of the Year<\/h3>\n

Cleveland\u2019s Kenny Atkinson, Detroit\u2019s J.B. Bickerstaff, and Houston\u2019s Ime Udoka are the Coach of the Year finalists. Atkinson led Cleveland to 64 wins and the top seed in the East. He recently won<\/a> the NBCA Coach of the Year award.<\/p>\n

Bickerstaff guided Detroit to a historic turnaround. The Pistons more than tripled their win total from the previous season.<\/p>\n

Udoka transformed the Rockets into the second seed in the West. Houston went from a lottery team to a title contender with a young core.<\/p>\n

Clutch Player of the Year<\/h3>\n

Jalen Brunson<\/a>, Nikola Jokic<\/a>, and Anthony Edwards<\/a> headline this award. Edwards and Brunson tied for the most clutch points with 157<\/a> each. Jokic contributed in every facet\u2014posting 140 points, 50<\/a> rebounds, and 36<\/a> assists in clutch moments. He ranked top three in all those categories.<\/p>\n

Most Improved Player<\/h3>\n

Cade Cunningham<\/a> led this group with a breakout season. He averaged 26.1 points, 9.1 assists, and 6.1 rebounds while making his first All-Star team.<\/p>\n

Ivica Zubac<\/a> set career highs across the board. He posted 16.8 points and 12.6 rebounds per game for the Clippers.<\/p>\n

Daniels reappeared on this list. He thrived in a bigger role with Atlanta, showing growth on both ends of the court. He averaged career highs across the board, more than doubling his points tally (14.1) from the previous year (5.8).<\/p>\n

Moving Forward<\/h3>\n

The NBA will announce the winners of each award over the next few weeks. All-NBA, All-Defense, and All-Rookie teams will also be revealed soon.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The NBA officially revealed the top three finalists for all seven major individual awards for the 2024-25 season. The announcement came Sunday night and included some familiar names as well as breakout stars. Here’s a breakdown of the key storylines heading into the league’s awards season. NBA Announces The 2024-25 Finalists For Every Major Award […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5018,"featured_media":135519,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[62,1608,3],"tags":[2109,3965,558,409,4605,3966,306,3821,652,1417,49556,49128,236,293,727,1143,49195,3798,564,3073,72,2614,1489,49196,49264,1877,49147],"class_list":["post-135476","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-nba","category-basketball","category-news","tag-anthony-edwards","tag-cade-cunningham","tag-defensive-player-of-the-year","tag-draymond-green","tag-dyson-daniels","tag-evan-mobley","tag-giannis-antetokounmpo","tag-ime-udoka","tag-ivica-zubac","tag-jalen-brunson","tag-jaylen-wells","tag-jb-bickerstaff","tag-kenny-atkinson","tag-malik-beasley","tag-most-improved-player","tag-nba-awards","tag-nba-clutch-player-of-the-year","tag-nba-coach-of-the-year-award","tag-nba-mvp","tag-nba-rookie-of-the-year","tag-nikola-jokic","tag-payton-pritchard","tag-shai-gilgeous-alexander","tag-sixth-man-of-the-year-award","tag-stephon-castle","tag-ty-jerome","tag-zaccharie-risacher"],"modified_by":"Frederick Okocha","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/135476","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5018"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=135476"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/135476\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":135520,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/135476\/revisions\/135520"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/135519"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=135476"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=135476"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=135476"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}